Ben Hildred Completes Second Olympic Mons - 448km with 21900m of Vert in 3 Days
Photos by Callum Wood
Ben Hildred's no stranger to big rides, completing a Double Everest in 2023, climbing a million feet in 200 days in 2021, Everesting at Skyline Bike Park, and completing his first "Olympic Mons" in 2020. You can read about those adventures here.
Olympus Mons is a Volcano on the planet Mars stands 21287.4m (69,841ft) above datum. Or it as in 2020 at least, Hildred said that it's now "grown somehow to 21900 meters." Either way, it is the tallest planetary mountain in the solar system, roughly two and a half times the height of Mount Everest, and it's the updated elevation that Ben Hildred chose to climb (and descend) in Queenstown earlier this month.
Unlike his last Olympic Mons adventure, Hildred did this in one go instead of over three days and the elapsed time for the event was 60h19.
 | That was a mission, three days of bike riding with friends, a brilliant weekend to remember. Hard to process it all currently, although looking forward to living it back in people's stories of tribulation and joy. |
You can see the guidelines that HIldred created for completing the Olympic Mons here if you want to give it a go yourself.
You can see the ride in more detail on his Strava here and you can see how the event unfolded by watching the Santa Cruz Bicycles Instagram highlights for Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.
Ben shared a couple of photos from the adventure.
This is actually Ben's longest ride ever, there was a glitch and the ride was uploaded twice from Wahoo!
"I saw this grit bin at the top of every lap and would recognise it with an understanding nod and freindly grimace. This was moments after completing the 21900m ride surrounded by wonderful people."
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And yet there’s people who think they need an e-bike for a ride only 1% of this!
I need a Dh bike for fastest laps in a couple of hours and uplift days
I need a trail/XC bike for longest human pedalled ride in 2 hours of long days of XC.
I need an Enduro bike for not running out of battery in the mountains on an epic ride
I need jump bike for the pump track and jumps
I need a BMX for the pump track
I need a CX bike for the odd gravel ride and to make it more challenging than taking the XC bike
I need a road bike for long road rides and going to the pub (the CX bike is actually nicer for the pub rides)
I need a spin bike for when its raining and training
AND
I need an e-bike for max laps in 1 hour. Rinse that battery, I cant sit at 400W to 500W on the climb and be fresh for the descent on my Enduro bike, plus there are things you can challenge yourself to climb on an EEB that you just cant do on any Amish.
Justification is easy, unless your like my ex-wife!!!
She loved that I raced and did well, but couldnt be there for me in my hours of need.
It was the anniversary of his death yesterday, the piece of art trail build on here a couple of days back was built in his name.
Thanks for your concern and asking.
-Malcolm Reynolds
I'm curious how the AXS drivetrain held up? change batteries each day, anything wear out?
Also, is that a Tallboy with a Super Deluxe?
Up Coro yep, and it certainly is, best shock going!